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Saturday, March 22, 2008

At least these cookie "fingers" are still in one piece!

Umm... we had a little "incident" last night. Apparently, it is not a good idea to sharpen the blade from a mandoline when you have other things going on! *heavy sigh* Yes, we ended up having to run to urgent care so I could get 2 stitches in my left index finger! The blade slipped through the sharpener a little quicker than I was expecting and went from my right hand to just below my knuckle - thankfully, it missed anything important and is just a minor annoyance now. So, the only thing I ruined was probably my chance to be a hand model... darn! My dream is ruined! :-) Just kidding... rather than displaying my stitches right next to the treat we are posting today, I'll just link to the picture instead.

Needless to say, nothing new from the kitchen today - I do have something to talk about though! A few days ago, Jeff was telling me about a friend of his who was celebrating her 50th birthday. He wanted to do something for her, but she lives on the west coast. While we couldn't take her out for lunch, what else would we do but bake up a batch of cookies and send them off?

I picked these Butterscotch Fingers to make because I needed to prepare the dough a couple days ahead of time. I knew I wasn't going to have time the day we needed to bake and send them and this recipe required a good rest in the refrigerator because it is just a slice-n-bake dough.

Think of these as just your basic shortbread cookie - except these buttery rectangles received an upgrade with moist dark brown sugar and a good handful of toasted pecans. Once combined, the dough should be just tacky to the touch, allowing you to shape it into a brick without much effort. You can either firm up the dough in the refrigerator if you have the extra time or simply stick it in the freezer for about 1 or 2 hours - it should be very firm so the brick of dough will slice cleanly. You can stick these fairly close together, about 1" or so apart, as they don't spread all that much. You're looking for the cookies to have a golden glow around the edges with not too much color on top.

Crisp, a little crumbly with a subtle butterscotch undertone, these thin, pecan-studded cookies are sturdy and rich. My mind was wondering when I was making these - I wonder how they would turn out if you browned the butter first, let it firm back up in the refrigerator and then used it for a more intense flavor?

Hi, Joe. I was a hand model in high school for a jewelry store for print ads around the state of Florida, but don't feel bad your "dream is ruined" because the money's not that great, anyway. LOL. I hope your finger heals soon because I bet it hurts to bend your pinky knuckle.

Agh, sorry about the finger! I can relate - thank goodness I live across the street from the fire department! I've run over there a number of times to have the EMTs bandage me up from cooking incidents.

Joe! Did you purposely choose butterscotch FINGERS to make when you were discussing your injury??? LOL

Here's a tip for you. I am nursing two nicked fingers right now (bumped against a knife in the dishwater), and have sustained more finger injuries than I can count (broken tumblers, mandoline, knife, burns). What I do is bind my wound with a regular bandaid (sometimes I use waterproof, but not always). Then, I put on a latex glove (use vinyl if you're allergic) over the injured hand. Then, I can cook and wash and clean as much as I need to without getting my injury wet. When I do dishes, I put a yellow Playtex-style glove right over the close-fitting surgical-style glove, and that protects me up my forearm as I wash. But that surgical glove means I can wash my hands (ok, my glove) as much as I need to while cooking, yet still keep my wound dressing dry.

Tell the truth, I even put a glove on to wash my hair in the shower.

Keeping the wound dry seems to speed healing. And putting on the glove means I don't have to think as hard about what I'm doing, nor rethink my technique as I work.